Team USA stake sale: Olympic committee hires Raine, Sky News says deal could be worth billions

The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is reported to be preparing to sell outside investors a stake in the commercial rights to Team USA. Sky News first reported the plan on November 3, and Forbes ran it under the headline "Olympic Committee Could Sell Commercial Stake In Team USA, For Billions." The word "billions" is the only valuation anywhere in the coverage we could read. Nobody has published a price, a percentage or a buyer.

What is reported, and by whom

According to Reuters, two people with knowledge of the matter said the USOPC is at an advanced stage of setting up a commercial entity that would sell a stake in exchange for capital. Reuters said USOPC board minutes name the proposed vehicle United States Olympic and Paralympic Ventures, and that the plan has been in the works for months.

Reuters attributes two points to Sky News: that the USOPC is advised by the sports investment bank Raine Group, and that the venture could be valued in the billions of dollars. Raine did not respond to Reuters' request for comment. City AM, also crediting Sky News, says Raine was hired to review fundraising options, and its report contains no valuation or stake percentage.

We could not open the Sky News article or the Forbes text, so the "billions" figure comes to us second-hand through Reuters. Treat it as a single-source estimate, from unnamed people, not as a number anyone has agreed.

What the USOPC has said on the record

The committee has not confirmed a sale. In a statement quoted by City AM and Reuters, it said "the USOPC is evaluating a range of commercial models to generate greater resources in support of its mission," and that "any path forward will preserve the USOPC's mission, governance, leadership and commitment to Team USA athletes." It also said the next decade is "an unprecedented opportunity for Team USA."

Reuters quotes board minutes in which chief executive Sarah Hirshland "reported encouraging feedback from preliminary discussions with potential investment and strategic partners," and which say prospective partners "generally validated the vision." Hirshland told Reuters the model is "very much in progress" and declined to give specifics. She called this "a natural transition point" the committee has prepared for "for more than a couple of years."

The timing is tied to Los Angeles. Reuters reports the USOPC is preparing to end its commercial partnership with LA28, known as United States Olympic and Paralympic Properties, after the 2028 Games, and City AM says Team USA's commercial rights return to the USOPC then. Reuters quotes Hirshland as saying the aim is "sustainable and consistent commercial strength," including around the 2034 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

How comparable deals were priced

Sports rights carve-outs are not new, and two of them have official numbers behind them.

The Ligue 1 arithmetic is simple: EUR 1.5 billion for 13% works out to roughly EUR 11.5 billion for all of it, which matches CVC's own figure. The Formula 1 numbers were calculated at the first closing in September 2016, and Liberty later bought the rest. City AM also lists the Spanish and French football leagues, the Six Nations, Prem Rugby and the world volleyball governing body as bodies that have sold stakes in their commercial rights. We did not verify those terms.

These are guides to the structure, not to Team USA's price. A league sells a media-rights stream that already exists. Team USA's commercial value rests on sponsorship and licensing that peaks around Games, and Reuters' reporting gives no revenue or projection to test "billions" against. We also did not find a USOPC revenue figure we could verify in this run, so we are not offering our own estimate.

What is not confirmed

• Any valuation range. "Billions" is Sky News' word, relayed by Reuters.
• The size of the stake, the identity of any investor, or whether a deal will happen at all. The USOPC says it is evaluating options.
• Raine's role, which Reuters attributes to Sky News and for which Raine gave no comment.
• The governance terms. The USOPC says it will preserve its mission, governance and leadership, but no structure has been published.

Why people are watching

The backdrop is FIFA. Reuters reports FIFA dropped plans for a $20 billion subsidiary that would have offered outside investors up to 20%, after a backlash that threatened president Gianni Infantino's position. City AM says that plan was criticized because investors were lined up in secret. The USOPC says it has consulted athlete and federation representatives, and City AM reports "ongoing conversation" with athlete and national governing body leaders. Whether they accept the terms is the open question, since the USOPC is a non-profit that, per Reuters, relies on sponsorship, licensing and other commercial revenue rather than government funding.

For sponsors and vendors, nothing changes today: no contract has been announced and the LA28 partnership runs through the Games. We will update this story if the USOPC, Raine or a prospective investor publishes figures.

Sources: Sky News (Mark Kleinman) via Reuters and City AM; Reuters, Nov 3 2026; City AM, Nov 3 2026; Forbes headline, Nov 3 2026; CVC Capital Partners, Apr 4 2022; Liberty Media SEC filing note. Unnamed-source claims are unconfirmed by the USOPC. This is news reporting, not investment advice.